


Common Commotion

by Multifandom_damnation



Category: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Affectionate Insults, Gen, Pre-Canon, Self-Indulgent, Short & Sweet, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:07:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27556579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: An average day in Miss Perigines Loop, full of doing chores and having fun and never growing old. But nothing is ever so straight forward when your adopted mother is a bird-woman and your siblings are all very special and you also never grow old.
Relationships: Emma Bloom & Enoch O'Connor
Kudos: 11





	Common Commotion

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Miss Pergirines recently and remembered just how much I loved it. The books didn't quite interest me as much. Anyway, a few things I noticed- Emma said that Enoch usually helped her put the baby squirrel back in the tree and that Claire loves Enoch and that they're very, very close compared to some of the others. Anyway, this was pretty self-indulgent, so I hope at least some of you enjoy it!!

As was common these recent days, Enoch waited impatiently under the shade of the old oak tree, the bundle of rope resting in his lap as he watched the wind rustle through the trees.

For a group of people who cared so much about punctuality and keeping good time, they were rarely on time. Though Emma cared so much about this damn baby squirrel, he was often left waiting there before her.

Out in the garden, the children were playing. Bronwyn and Fiona chased each other around the garden beds. The twins watched the clouds as Millard and Hugh tossed a ball between them. Olive watched over the children with Claire curled up against her side, a picture book between them. Emma and Horace were inside somewhere, with Miss Perigrine taking her daily visit to Victor's room.

Day after day, their lives carried on, and every day was exactly the same as the last. Things stayed the same, their lives continued as always and he was sitting under a tree waiting for Emma to finish her damn business so she could catch this squirrel.

The twins had taken the ball from Millard and Hugh, and the four of them were now running around and squealing as they kicked the ball between them. Olive and Claire were playing patty cake, and Fiona and Bronwyn were now holding hands and spinning themselves in corkscrew circles. 

He wished that Miss Perigrine had started the loop when he was a little bit longer, or a little bit older, just so he had somewhere to fit in with the others.

He rested his head solidly against the trunk of the tree and it with a _thunk!_ He had much better things to do, his own chores to get to, and while he was more than happy to help Emma out for the thirty seconds that she needed, but he _hated_ waiting.

"Bronwyn!" He called as she danced near him. "Have you seen Emma?"

She froze, a deep frown on her face. "I think she was helping Horace choose what hat to wear."

Enoch felt like he'd been slapped. "You're not _serious_?"

He watched her shrug and scurry away, back to where Fiona was waiting, slightly impatiently, for her to return to their game.

Just when he was about to leave, screw the damn squirrel, Emma flounced into view, her boots clanking loudly, slightly out of breath. "Good day, Enoch," she greeted cheerfully. 

"It _would_ be a good day if I hadn't been waiting here for ages," Enoch grumbled as he stood and wiped the dirt off of his trousers. "Were you really helping Horace pick a hat?"

"Of course not. It's none of your business anyway," Emma brustled a bit as she moved her hair from her face. "Besides, you usually don't mind waiting for me a little bit. What's up with you?"

"I don't mind waiting, but I don't like having to wait for fifteen minutes. I've got a long list of things I want to get done today," he held out the rope. "Come on, You've got two minutes."

As Emma took one end of the rope of began to wind it around herself, she pouted good-naturedly at him. "What else could you possibly have to do?" It's not like we've got anywhere to go or anyone to meet with."

Rolling his eyes, Enoch began adjusting his grip on the rope. "I've got a few tests I want to run on my puppets. A few combinations I want to work out."

"Right, of course. Sounds fun," Emma teased as she bent down to release the clasps of her metal boots, peering up at him kindly through her hair. "Those things are freaky, you know," She accused with no bite. "I don't know how you can stand it the way that you do."

Frowning, Enoch watched her stand and throw her hair over her shoulder, somewhat frustratedly. "Well, lucky for you that you don't have anything to do with it. Less than a minute now."

She looked at him strangely, a twinkle in her eye. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to hang out with us living folk instead of building your own dead friends."

He stared at her, bored. "Just catch the damn squirrel."

Waggling her eyebrows at him with a smirk on her face, Emma held her hands out before her, and a moment later, a little baby squirrel landed perfectly in the cup of her hands. She glanced at him once more before she slipped her feet from the confines of her shoes and went soaring into the air. 

He tightened his grip on the rope as he idly watched her float up gently and use one hand to steady herself on the branches He glanced over to where Olive was sitting with most of the other kids, and she caught his eye and smiled. 

Emma's feet were dangling in the air and her blue dress swirled around her as she placed the squirrel in the nest, where it chirped happily. She tried to use the branches push herself back down but only succeeded on being shot upwards like a buoy. He took pity on her and yanked on the rope with all his strength, and she slowly returned from behind the branches, holding the rope for stability.

"How nice of you to finally help," she said sarcastically with her arms crossed over her chest. "I thought that you had tied the rope off and left me to do all the work. Was that my punishment for being late?"

"Hey, I'm here helping you, aren't I?" Enoch grunted as he pulled her closer to the ground.

She snorted as she reached his head-height. "I'm not sure if the bare minimum counts as helping."

He placed a grounding hand on her shoulder so she could slip herself into her boots and redid the clasps. He let her go when she stood up and began winding the length of rope neatly around his arm, and she untied it from around her waist. He said nothing as she reached a hand up to wave at the children, who all waved back in unison.

"I really am sorry for being so late, Enoch," she said softly as she put her hand lightly on his shoulder. "I was helping Horace talk thought a strange nightmare he had last night. I lost track of time."

Enoch shrugged. "It's alright. I was just starting to worry that I would have to try and catch the damn squirrel on my own. Just, if it happens again, maybe send one of the other kids to come and let me know so I'm not waiting here like that."

"Sure," Emma laughed, nudging him gently. "You didn't just have to sit here, you know. You could have helped Olive watch the kids or keep them entertained."

"I'm not one for entertaining the kids. You know that they're kind of scared of me at times," Enoch finished wrapping the rope. "It's fine. Olive had it handled, and a little bit of sunshine never did any harm."

Emma fluttered her eyelashes at him. "Are you sure I can't convince you to spend time with the rest of us instead of playing with your zombie puppets?"

He wrinkled his nose at her. "No," he said simply. "Unlike the rest of you, my 'zombie puppets' actually do what I tell them to do and don't talk back."

"Well, maybe you should hang with us exactly for that reason. You know, get a dose of your own medicine," Emma smiled smugly. "Get that stick out of your ass."

"Emma," he chastised, aghast, trying to force back the smile that threatened to appear. "Not in front of the children."

"Oh, please, don't act as if the kids hadn't heard worse, particularly from _your_ mouth," Emma stuck her tongue out petulantly at him like one of the children would have.

Before he could reply, he felt a tug on his sleeve and turned to see that Olive and Claire had left the centre of the garden to join them by the tree. Olive smiled at him. "Hi, Enoch."

"Hi Olive," he replied.

"Are you two done here?" she asked sweetly. "I don't mean to interrupt."

"No, we're done," Emma smiled. "What did you need?"

Olive smiled down at Claire, who had resolutely hidden behind her legs, clutching onto the fabric. "Claire wants to ask you something, Enoch," she said as she nudged Claire forward. "Go on,"

Shyly, Claire twisted her skirt in her hand as she moved out from behind Olive to stand between the three of them. "Enoch?" she asked sheepishly. "Can you braid my hair before dinner?"

Enoch determinedly ignored the way Emma looked at him triumphantly as he crouched down in front of her. "Of course, Claire. I would love to," he said as he tapped her on the chest with a finger and made her grin. "As long as you promise not to bite me."

Giggling, Claire took his hand and lead him back towards the house. Half-way, he lifted her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way. "Bye Emma," He called over his shoulder almost as an afterthought, ignoring her laughter.

"Bye, Enoch!" she shouted. "See you, same time tomorrow!"

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if this is really bad, I just really really love this movie and these characters and couldn't resist writing something about them!


End file.
